What if Death Takes a Holiday
by Katy M VT
Summary: What if it took place pre-series, Stanford era? Chapter 3 of 3 up.
1. Teaser

What if it took place pre-series Stanford era?

Sam and Jessica had gone to her home for their spring vacation. They went out to a bar to get away for the night. Sam had spoken to her mother the night before and now he was nervous.

"Jessica, I have something to ask you," he said.

"Yes?" she asked, excitedly. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

"Will you marry me?" Sam asked, as he presented her with a ring.

"Yes," Jess squealed and jumped up and hugged him.

"I'm so happy," Sam said. He was finally getting his normal life.

"Let's go home. I want to tell my mom."

"OK," Sam said, momentarily saddened by the fact that he couldn't share this with his family

They walked out, hand in hand. They had parked behind the bar, so they cut through the alley.

"Got any change?" a man asked.

"No, sorry," Jessica said.

"Give me your wallets," he demanded and pulled a gun.

"OK, take it easy," Sam said and gave him his wallet, while Jessica handed him her purse.

An employee was taking the trash out and was transfixed by the scene before him. He had lifted up the dumpster lid and as he watched, he dropped it.

The robber was startled by the loud sound and reflexively pulled the trigger. As Jessica fell to the ground, he ran away.

"Jessica," Sam screamed as he went down to her. "Call an ambulance," he yelled to the still gaping employee. He came to himself and ran off to find a phone.

"I'm OK," Jessica said in amazement.

Sam watched as the wound healed in front of his eyes. What was she?


	2. Family Reunion

The police and ambulance showed up a few minutes later. "This is the fourth person who should be dead who isn't," one of the cops said.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, overhearing.

"A man on a ventilator, got up and walked out when it was turned off, a little girl was hit by a car going about 60 miles an hour, and someone else was stabbed. No marks on any of them."

That was weird, but it made Sam feel better. If it was happening to other people it meant Jessica wasn't a creature. He couldn't believe that he had even entertained that notion for a minute.

"What do we do now?" Sam asked.

"Go home, I guess."

"Thanks," Jessica said.

SSS

"I found a weird case I think we should check out, Dean," John said.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"Small town, Custer, Washington, nobody's died there for over a week."

"Is that so strange?" Dean asked.

"It's how they're not dying. The latest one is a girl who was shot and just walked away."

"Where was she hit?" Dean asked.

"Heart, from two feet away."

"And she's not a doughnut?"

"No. There's others, too. I think we should check this out."

"What do you think it could be?" Dean asked. Ghosts usually killed people, didn't keep them alive. Demons weren't known for their altruistic nature. He was pretty sure there was no such thing as angels. Shapeshifters, wendigos, and other creatures wouldn't have the power for that. Dean was clueless.

"I honestly have no idea, but it has to be something supernatural. Let's go."

"OK," Dean said.

SSS

"Where do we start?" Dean asked when they got to town.

"Let's talk to the last 'victim,'" John said. He consulted his notes. "Jessica Moore. College student, home for the break."

"What college?" Dean asked.

"No idea. Why?"

"Just wondering," Dean said. "I was thinking if it was MIT or something, maybe she cooked up a live forever potion in the lab."

"Anything's possible at this point."

John pulled up to the address he had for Jessica's parents. John and Dean rang the doorbell.

"Yes?" a woman about John's age asked when she opened the door.

"I called earlier. We want to talk to Jessica about her experience for our website ."

Dean had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. This had to be the lamest undercover ever.

"Yes, please come in," the woman said. "We've never been religious, but we just know this has to be a miracle. I didn't tell Jessica you were coming. So much has been going on, I forgot. She's here, though," the woman rambled on.

"Thanks," John said as he and Dean followed him into the living room.

"Jessica, these gentlemen would like to talk to you about the miracle."

Jessica squirmed uncomfortable. She didn't know what happened, but wasn't sure it was a miracle. Why would God choose to save her of all people? She was nothing special.

"Can you tell us what happened?" John asked.

"My boyfriend and I were at a bar. He asked me to marry him and I said yes," Jessica said and smiled. Even with everything else that had happened, that was still the best part of the story.

"Congratulations," Dean said.

"Thanks. Anyway, we left the bar and there was a man outside with a gun. He demanded our wallets, which we gave to him, but then the guy taking out the garbage dropped the dumpster lid, and the man got spooked and shot me. I fell to the ground, in the worst pain I ever want to feel, but then a couple of seconds later I was fine."

"Do you have any idea how that happened?" John asked.

"No."

"It was a miracle," her mother piped in. "Jessica is just so wonderful, and she just got engaged, God decided to spare her. She's my only child, and I lost my husband last month, but now I'm going to have grandchildren."

John didn't want to disillusion her. He had nearly lost both his sons on more than one occasion, so he knew the feeling. Of course, in a very different way he had lost Sam. In the privacy of his mind he admitted that was partly his fault.

They heard the door open and shut. "That must be my fiancé," Jessica said, loving the sound of the word.

"Hey," Sam said as he walked in and froze when he saw his father and brother. He knew something was up, but didn't want to question it, but now he might have no choice.

"Hi, Sam. These men are from a religious website. They're here to talk to Jessica about the miracle."

Sam nodded stiffly.

"We were just leaving," John said.

"I'll walk you out," Sam offered.

When they got outside, John said, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. I don't know what happened. I thought she was dying and then she was fine. My first thought was that she was a demon or creature or something. But then I found out this had been happening all over town. I don't know what it is, but I'm glad."

"Sam, this can't be good," John said.

Sam turned and walked back into the house. His father could never be happy for him.

"We have to figure this out," John said to Dean.


	3. The Glitch

"So, do you know those guys?" Jessica asked when Sam came back in. He had seemed to react weirdly to them.

Sam realized that he couldn't lie to her. It was possible that she would meet them again some day and it would be hard to explain why he hadn't told her who they were. "That was my dad and brother."

"Really?" Jessica asked. Sam didn't talk about his family much, but he had mentioned them a few times. His brother more than his father. When he talked about Dean it was almost worshipful. "Why didn't you invite them to stay?"

"You know we had a big fight before I left for Stanford. My dad still hasn't forgiven me." Sam decided to let it go at that and hoped Jessica didn't start asking why they were running a religious website when they were mechanics. Luckily, Jessica went in a different direction.

"We should invite them to the wedding."

"Definitely, but I doubt they'll come." It would be great if they did, though, he admitted to himself. He couldn't ever remember celebrating a happy family occasion.

SSS

John called Bobby and explained about the non-deaths. He left mention of Sam out, though. Whenever Sam's name came up, it usually ended in a fight between the two men. "any idea what we might be dealing with?"

"Sounds to me like you have a reaper glitch," Bobby said.

"A reaper glitch? What's that?" John asked.

"It means that when someone died, they got caught up with the reaper. The reaper can't free himself to take anyone else's soul. So, when somebody dies, they're basically healed."

"Forever?" John asked.

"If they leave town another reaper will get them, or if the glitch is broken. How many people have died since this started?"

"Four that we know of," John answered.

"Well, it's sad for them, but the glitch has to be broken. "

John knew he was right, but asked, "Why?"

"Because it's the natural order. You can't have a town living forever. Not to mention the fact, if it's not broken within a month, the ghost will entirely consume the reaper. That will be one powerful ghost."

"What do we do?"

"Perform a séance on the last person to die in town. Then you have to perform a ritual. It's got to be done at midnight."

"Thanks, Bobby," John said, as Dean walked into the room.

"What did Bobby say?" Dean asked.

John filled him in.

"So, Sam's girlfriend is going to die?"

John nodded sadly. He looked at his watch. It was 3 in the afternoon. Nine more hours. "We need to talk to him."

"Do we have to do it, Dad? Is there any way to break the glitch without the others dying?"

"I wish there was. I would do anything to spare Sam from this pain. Believe me," John said as he remembered when Mary died. He thought the pain from losing her would kill him. The only thing that kept him going was his boys—her boys. Sam and Jessica didn't have kids. It would be so much worse for him with nothing of her left.

SSS

John and Dean returned to the Moore house. "Sam, we need to talk to you," John said when he answered the door.

Sam looked back and stepped outside to talk to them. "What is it?"

"Sam, we found out what's going on. A ghost and a reaper got glitched together and we have to separate them."

"And?" Sam asked, dreading the answer.

"And when we do, all the people who didn't die are going to die," John said.

"Please don't," Sam begged.

"Sammy," John started.

"No, I know you hate me for leaving, but please don't do this. Jessica's the sweetest person in the whole world. She can't die."

"Sammy, I don't hate you. I love you. I'm not doing this to punish you, but only because it has to be done. You have 8 hours to say your good-byes. Do you know what I would have done for another 8 hours with your mother?" John asked.

Sam didn't want to listen to any of this. She only wanted to keep Jessica alive. "Dean," he appealed. Dean had never been able to resist his puppy dog eyes.

"Sam," Dean's voice broke. He couldn't stand seeing Sam this broken. "Just spend some time with her. I'm sorry."

Knowing there was no way to stop them, Sam stormed back in the house.

"He hates us," Dean said.

"No, he doesn't. He knows this has to be done, but he doesn't have to like it. Come on. We have stuff to get together."

SSS

"Jessica, I have to talk to you," Sam said.

"Sure."

"You know how I never talk about my family?"

"Yeah. I've always wondered why."

"My dad used to be a mechanic before my mom died, but then he kind of changed professions," Sam admitted.

"To what?"

"A hunter."

"You mean he hunts deer and stuff?" Jessica asked. She wasn't sure why Sam would lie about that. It was a weird way to make a living, but assuming he wasn't cruel about it, and didn't waste the animals, Jessica certainly wouldn't have judged him for it.

"No, ghosts and stuff."

"What?" Jessica asked. "There's no such thing."

"I wish that was true. Look, I don't really want to waste time talking about it now. But, they came to town to investigate what was going on. They've figured it out and they're going to fix it. You're going to die tonight. I thought you deserved the truth. I'll understand if you hate me."

"Sam, I could never hate you," Jessica said and patted the seat next to her on the couch. I wish I had known this earlier, though. My mom just left to visit my aunt for the weekend. She doesn't have a cell phone and she won't get there soon enough to come back."

"I'm sorry."

"That's OK. I'm going to write her a letter and then I want to spend the rest of the day curled up with you," Jessica said.

SSS

John and Dean had got all the stuff together just in time and they headed to the cemetery to perform the seance.

Two spirits appeared before them. They seemed to be knotted together. "That is totally freaky," Dean said.

"Throw the mixture on them," John directed.

Dean did so as John chanted the Latin. The spirits became separated. The reaper touched the ghost and it disappeared. The reaper then disappeared, presumably to do its job.

"Should we check on Sammy?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, he'll need someone with him."

SSS

Sam and Jessica were laying on the couch talking. They had been talking all day. Sam stopped keeping secrets and told her everything about growing up. Jessica told him all the things she was sad to be missing out on, marrying him, having kids, finishing college.

"I know it's expensive, and this is selfish, since you could probably use the money, but can I keep the ring, after I'm gone."

"Of course," Sam said.

Suddenly Jessica started to bleed from her gunshot wound. "It's time," she whispered. That was all she had time for before she died.

Sam continued to hold her and cried. He couldn't believe his life was falling down around her.

A few minutes later, he heard someone coming in. He looked up to see his father and brother. "She's dead," he whispered.

"I know, Sammy," John said.

Sam wanted to hate him. Blame him for Jessica's death, but he knew it wasn't really his fault. He had done him the favor of letting him know so they didn't waste their last day.

Dean walked up to him and pulled him gently away. "Come on, Sammy," Dean said.

Dean led him out to the car and they drove off –in the opposite direction of Stanford.

The End


End file.
